Wow, I am humbled by the response, I really appreciate it, especially coming from people who take time to pursue modelling & crafts as a hobby.
In answer to the questions, I use Derwent 2h-8b pencils (often using matt acrylic lacquer if the shine from the lead is really evident on dark tones-Humbrol Acrylic Matt lacquer eradicates it).
The Guild of Motoring Artists are a British Guild with world wide membership, which, is by invitation only following an appraisal of your work. Many are professional or semi pro, some of the worlds top motoring artists are in the guild & make my work look staid.
Here are a couple more, an SL Mercedes I did for a Mercedes owners club member, portrayed in a typical Bavarian setting at Lake Konigsee along with an old tram trundling through my home town 100 years ago.
Though the Saab was drawn for an owners club event, I never sold it & display it in my studio.
Once again thanks for the kind words.

Hello everyone, moved by the kind words on the "Under glass" forum, I have been inspired to rekindle the 72 Mustang.
The background:
When I was eleven, in 1975, an older boy in our street gave me a 1/12 Mustang he had built. I was thrilled, it was so much better than my efforts & I adored it. As an inquisitive child, I pulled it apart, re painted it & generally destroyed it. I fondly recall singing David Soul's "Silver lady" with my Mum spraying it for the tenth time.
Sadly the older boy died in his early twenties shortly after, I recall the lads parents staying in the street for years after, he was their only son. My Mum succumbed to the same illness a year later, cancer took her very young.
Fast forward to the late nineties, before we got the internet, I hankered for the kit again & my girlfriend managed (through a local model shop) to locate one in Istanbul of all places, still sealed.
The price was £74.99 ($120), expensive for a kit, but not by todays standards as all Otaki/Doyusha 1/12 kits are very expensive.
They are also rare, in fact I have only ever seen a couple of finished built examples.
Though the kit is huge & wonderfully packaged with metal springs, wires & brass nuts, what quickly became apparent, on studying the kit, is it was designed to be motorised & is in that strange area of toy/authentic replica. I was a little disappointed as it was clearly going to be a mammoth task turning this into a presentable model.
On the plus side, its proportions were good, despite the wheels being a little flat for Magnum 500's it looked like with a lot of scratchbuilding & research it could be done. After all the sentimental value alone was surely worth the effort.
Then we got married, moved house & had two lovely daughters. Fifteen years the kit languished in the loft with only the odd token attempt at building it.
Last week I joined the forum & was thrilled by the kind words of other modellers. The kids are older, so out of the loft it comes. Lets see how much I can get done....lets see if I can finish it!
The body needed a little filling, I didnt want the hood pins (which are too big & toy like ) bolt heads were added to the inner wings & the door cards needed reworking look more authentic. Although the hinges are still nothing like the real thing, I realise some compromises have to be made so they were reduced in size.
The floorpan is where the motorised toy is most evident, the petrol tank held the AA batteries & has a switch sticking out of it. I made a flange to replicate the two halves of a petrol tank & added tank straps.
I realise the floorpan & inner wings are not paricularly authentic either, there are lots of very sharp angles that needed rounding off & the propshaft tunnel needs work too. The wiper suttle vents were milled open.
The carpeted floor, even when flocked was far too angular & needed smoothing out.
We are on our way, apologies for the story, but I can imagine most of us can equate to it, a kit that disappoints & life getting in the way. Somehow we always return to our hobby.
One question to our American friends who will be far more acquainted with Mustangs than us in England, from new, was the floorpan satin black or grey dipped primer. Research shows satin black or shiny paint in body colour almost certaily as a result of restoration, I can find no pics from the assembly line.
Thanks for your interest.
Johnny.

This is fantastic work, I thought I had put some effort into the Esci Merc 190, but this is incredible.
Esci covered some great European vehicles that no one else moulded, but turning them into a presentable model takes real effort.
Can't wait to see the finished article.

Thanks so much for the kind words, it is a rare kit & I have taken the liberty of adding two more pics in slightly higher res. The latter pic shows what a challenge this kit is, however with a little effort it can be made into a faithful reproduction.
I am fortunate enough to own the real thing so research was not a big issue, as the kit is LHD I opted for Italian plates.
The 190 badge is a decal in the kit, the star moulded into the boot.
I used the donor foil transfers from the Tamiya S500 kit, it included the lovely star on the boot, it looks better & I have seen 190's with just 2.0 on the boot (mines a 2.6 anyway) so I used a bit of licence there.
Here she is with my German scoot.

Thanks Dave, considering the age of some AMT kit moulds, they build up into lovely models. The bumper mould seam is the only real giveaway to the era of the moulds.
Did you build yours standard (stock for our American cousins) ?

An old build from 1993. I love AMT stuff.
Completely stock, added opening quarter lights, under bonnet detailing & tyre valves.
Being a newbie I had uploaded images in very low res, I have taken the liberty of re adding the pics in a slightly higher resolution along with a couple more.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their kind words, I am humbled as I tend to work in complete isolation without any real idea of what my peers would think.
Thanks to everyone for commenting
Johnny